A Year in the Life of Cathy & Skip - 2018

As before, we started to do a Christmas card. Too small, too expensive. It was an amazing year, and since we shared parts of it with some of you, we are now trying to share lots of the year with all of you. Just scroll up until your finger can push no more. Our wishes for a prosperous, fulfilling, generous and happy 2019 go out to all of you.

January…

…began with Skip scrounging for more Singer parts. (Remember, he’s into the second year of the serious rebuild of the 1954 British roadster we towed back from Whidbey Island 46 years ago)! Here is the WHOLE story if you are interested: http://skip2.me/singer/mundy-history.html. (Remember to hit the back button to come back here). Cathy got into meaningful protest mode and marched through the downtown area with thousands of like-minded protesters.

Right now, the Singer Roadster is little more than a dream.

The bitter cold didn’t stop Cath and her buds from getting out the message that all was not well in the U.S. of A.

At least half the wood in the Singer frame had to be replaced.

February…

…saw the opening of the Ent Center for the Performing Arts - the amazing Gallery of Contemporary art with Floyd Tunson, a tour of his studio, the Kegwin Dance troupe from New York, a Gala and much more. Cathy was kept busy juggling theater, dance, concert, charity, historical preservation and art events, while Skip made hundreds of photos and rebuilt some of the ash frame parts on the Singer. We also met with the Gilmours in Denver to formalize a 529 Plan to fund future educational opportunities for Vivi and Bowen, our grandchildren.

We cleaned up fairly well for the big shindig.

The Edgar Degas show at the Denver Art Museum was a winner.

Local high school dancers perform in a Master Class led by New York dance professional, Larry Kegwin.

In March…

…Cathy traveled to Seattle to be with her brother and sisters and their families while Skip stayed behind helping Tim with a graduation book started by Shannon for Julien, their grandson. Skip also started sewing the upholstery for the Singer, drove the MG to Castle Rock for an amazing tour of Clayton Restorations, and later we drove the MG in the St. Patrick’s Day Parade. Skip finally finished a web site for his 55th high school reunion (http://skip2.me/wasson-55th/index.html). The Ent Center featured a smashing musical performance of Oklahoma and also a dance event by the Aspen Santa Fe Ballet. Cathy planned an amazing tour of the Chico Basin Ranch for the Historic Preservation Alliance to be done in July.

Beautiful day for a parade in the MG.

One of the many marques being restored at Clayton.

Fine footwear in the tack room at the Chico Basin Ranch.

April found…

…Skip judging an art show in Florence, CO. It was great fun (maybe a little stressful) with lots of new faces, good food and things to see. Cathy got to rub elbows with the Founding Mothers of the WTF… the Women’s Theater Festival ;>) The month provided amazing musical performances: Jesus Christ Superstar redone on television, Ravel, Mozart, Bradford Marsalis at the professional venues and Paul Nagem (our favorite flutist) at Colorado College. Skip took a refresher class in genealogy and pushed out two “high ticket” restoration items for the Singer: re-chroming the radiator shell and machining the block and crankshaft…Ouch$$!

The bucket seats for the Singer were sewn on Skip’s mother’s old sewing machine.

One of the winning entries in the Florence art show. The artist turned out to be one of Skip’s substitute teachers when he had pneumonia back in the 80s!

Possibly the strangest fossil we’d ever seen exhibited at the Natural History Museum in Denver.

In May…

…Skip finished the shiny parts of the Singer windscreen and found someone south of town who cut new glass for it. He also guessed at the configuration of the rear mechanical brakes and learned volumes about clevises. The BIG deal this month was our wonderful week in New York with Meredith and Richard: http://skip2.me/ny18. What a wonderful trip, and you can be with us via the web site!

The not-so-functional mechanical braking mechanism on an old British roadster.

Meredith was able to get us amazing tickets to this Tony Award winning play.

One of the best meals ever in a cozy inn with the people we love. What could be better?

The mighty Hudson as seen from Cold Springs harbor.

OUR TRAINERS

June…

…brought an invitation from Cathy’s sister, Laurie, to join her for a few days in Salida where she was housesitting. What a neat town. We shopped at the honey store, went to a Grateful Dead tribute concert, a lecture on Antarctica and had a wonderful relaxing visit. Back home we attended our many meeting commitments, several funerals, concerts, plays, and made preparations for the Grammy & Grampy Camp Extravaganza!

Not a rotten Singer frame, rather a beautiful Deborah Butterfield horse in the Denver Art Museum

Zoe Lewis at one of the Pink House Concerts in Colorado Springs.

Iconography from the Orthodox Church which was part of the Sacred Spaces tour Cathy organized.

Laurie and Cathy survey the gorgeous panorama of Salida, CO.

July…

…always begins with a bang. This year the month continued with volunteer assignments, coffee with the guys, book club, etc. We mailed off the camp invitation to the grandchildren, did an art festival in Green Mountain Falls…and then Cathy fell! She broke her femur, got a two-block ambulance ride, an 11” titanium spike and a 4” screw and the rest of the month in rehab at St. Francis! What a trooper! However, “the show must go on” - Grammy & Grampy Camp was only a couple of weeks away, and so Laurie flew in to substitute for her sis. The camp was exhausting but also very rewarding for all. Here is a link to the invitation. Cathy miraculously returned home for the last day of camp and the photo shoot treasure hunt.

Look at Vivi climb - her first time in the City Rock Climbing gym!

One of the places the kids wanted to visit was the Wolf Preserve above Woodland Park. Fascinating place, and the “group howl” is not to be missed.

The amazing titanium reinforced leg bone.

Bowen tackles a smaller climbing space, but “look, Mom, no ropes”!

August…

…was about wheelchairs, walkers, special commodes, physical and occupational therapy, doctor visits and mountains of casseroles delivered by scores of friends and neighbors. That’s all it would have been about for the average person, however, Cathy….  Well, despite doctor’s and therapists warnings, she was determined to join the family who journeyed back to Dubois, WY for the interment of Shannon’s ashes the week after she got home from the hospital. She survived tall beds, low toilets, horrible stairs, egg-sized gravel rock entries and more to enjoy the family assembled for rotational parties. Once home, Skip got a crown (the $500 kind…in the mouth), a poke in each eye (still 20-20 despite the WMD) and a couple of basal surgeries on his bald head. What fun!

Chelsea and the kids check out Granddad Hawley’s sheep wagon.

A team from the Dance Theater’s Wine Fest.

Cath and the Jackalope!

The loving family gathered at the Dubois cemetery to say their final goodbye to Shannon.

The beautiful Dubois badlands.

In September…

…we started to get serious about a trip to Panama that had been a dream of Cathy’s parents but never realized. Her sisters, Laurie and Mary and their husbands, were all gung-ho, so we shopped the cruise lines and travel agents and settled on a small 24-passenger boat with lots of stops at national parks, bird preserves, cloud forests and city sights in addition to the canal. We are going to make this happen in 2019! The Singer got its scuttle stripped, we co-hosted our 35th Wood Ave. Block Picnic, had great visits with old friends and jazz on the patio with new ones.

Libby Pitman directs traffic through her beautiful house at the reception for the Houston MET dancers.

Mary Ann Rochette and Cathy at the annual Wood Ave. Picnic.

It’s quite evident that the Houston dancers were having a good time.

The cook and his able assistant, Jeremy Agnew.

In Early October…

…we flew to Ft. Worth so that Cathy and Laurie could do museums and girl lunches while Skip rented a car and drove to Ft. Sill to do museums and boy lunches with guys from his Vietnam artillery unit’s 50-year reunion. It’s hard to tell who had the most fun. Shocking to see how old those guys have gotten… Cathy’s recovery from her fall amazes her therapists and the rest of us. Flu shots, walking the precinct delivering voting reminders, lectures at UCCS and another on Mars funded by National Geographic, wine festivals, birthdays, HPA gala, Mahler, Shakespeare and Stravinsky, art openings, drain the sprinkler and write off another month.

One of the guys from Skip’s old unit finally gets to fire a 50 Cal. machine gun.

We finally got a beautiful snow in late October. Monument Valley Park is our back yard wonderland.

Bowen’s birthday followed one of his rousing soccer games.

Several of Skip’s mates from Vietnam stand in front of a howitzer brought back from Fire Support Base Rita where we lost several of our men.

November…

…brought computer troubles for Skip which despite two new computers, still exist in part through the end of the year. Karma. We had Thanksgiving in Wheatridge with Shannon’s daughter, Noemie and 20+ blended family members. Great celebration. More concerts, plays, parties topped by a quiet, romantic 52nd Anniversary dinner for two at the Margarita thanks to birthday gifts from Meredith and Richard. Cathy continued improvement thanks to extended PT and keeping up her blistering pace.

A sign on a fence near Penrose Hospital where Cathy and Skip volunteer. What a hoot!

’55 Chevy which was the centerpiece for the Cuban exhibit at the Museum of Nature and Science in Denver.

Tobacco shed and cigar rolling station at the Cuba exhibit.

December…

brought back-to-back parties, the standard decorations, lots of charity work, the new Tana French novel, and a weekend in the Springs with the Gilmours as Vivi and Bo attended a Kid Power Seminar. Neal helped Skip deliver the Singer’s body (tub) to the mechanic. We did a backstage tour and dress rehearsal with the Philharmonic and a concert by the Blind Boys of Alabama. Cathy got a Christmas crown (same place as Skip’s). We shared Christmas day in Denver with the Gilmours. We heard from many of you, the triumphs and tribulations, but how nice to share all of that with people who care and love each other.

How’s this for a “hands-on” design from the House of Dior? It’s pretty obvious that my camera had a wonderful time at the Dior Exhibit at the Denver Art Museum. What amazing creativity!

The Singer has been welded, and the tub is now back on the frame. My mechanic said I’d be able to drive it to the body shop by the end of the year. Unfortunately, he didn’t specify which year.

The homestead is little changed from past years. We are cozy and happy and busy and blessed. We wish the very same for all of you in the coming year. Please stay in touch, share your victories and your defeats - we need to support one another now more than ever!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

2019

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